Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow qualified for next month's US Women's Open after finishing tied for second in a 36 hole qualifier in Arizona. World number 112 Meadow posted rounds 66 and 68 which was enough to take one of the six available visas for the second LPGA major of the year.
Meadow became popular in 2014 when she made her professional debut at the U.S. Women's Open. Seven years ago she surprised the golfing world after finishing third at Pinehurst, only three shots behind the winner Michelle Wie. It looked like Meadow will bring the Irish women's golf to new heights, but very quickly she started to experience the highs and lows of being a professional golfer.
LPGA Drive On Championship - Round Two © Getty Images
The first big disappointment came at the end of the same season when she was defeated in a playoff at the Q School and lost her LPGA card for the 2015 season. A few months later Meadow's father Robert was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and she put his pro career on hold to help her mother with the care for his father. According to her own words Meadow didn't lift a club for five weeks and played only one tournament in the early part of 2015. Less than a month later Robert Meadow sadly passed away and Stephanie Meadow had to learn how to continue her career without her beloved father who was alongside his daughter during her whole golfing career so far. It's not a surprise that Stephanie's confidence had been completely eroded when she missed 11 consecutive cuts the same year.In 2017 Meadow lost her LPGA tour card again after she missed 13 cuts from 17 starts.
Stephanie's most recent top 10 finish on the LPGA Tour came last November when she finished third at the Pelican Women's Championship presented by DEX Imaging and Konica Minolta.
US open bound ! Finished -10 for the 36 hole qualifier 😊😊 pic.twitter.com/hPoIOCwkez
— Stephanie Meadow (@StephMeadow20) May 14, 2021
The 2021 U.S. Women's Open will take place from 3-6 June at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California.
